iProspect debuts in Campaign School Report with an Excellent 8

Campaign Magazine released its much anticipated annual School Reports on Wednesday 20th March; a supplement that looks at a hundred or so of the UKs top agencies and rates their year. Each agency gets to give itself a score out of nine and Campaign offers its own review of the agency and its performance, again marking it out of nine. After a phenomenally good 2013– we are thrilled to be recognised as ‘top in class’ on our very first appearance in the School Reports. Thank you to all our clients, staff and partners!

Below is Campaign’s report on us.

SCORE: 8 LAST YEAR: n/a

This is the year that Aegis Media’s digital performance specialist iProspect makes its School Reports debut, and few can argue with it making a beeline to the top of the class. Once the centralised digital muscle for Aegis Media’s established media agencies, iProspect now wins as many accounts indepdently as it does pitching with its siblings Carat and Vizeum.

Dubbed “the media agency of the future” by some, iProspect does not handle any TV, press, outdoor or radio spend but focuses entirely on digital marketing, with search accounting for 80 per cent of billings and “other” digital activities – including pay per click, affiliates, display and social – making up the remaining 20 per cent.

The range and depth of 11 new-business wins in 2013 confirm iProspect’s growth trajectory, including: Asda Money, British Airways, Burberry, Confused.com, Hilton, More Th>n and Sky. The agency also extended its relationship with Santander alongside Carat, picking up the affiliate and SEO business to consolidate its media and digital work.

iProspect continues to grow to keep up with demands, with headcount rising by more than a third last year (90) to total 270 staff in the UK. The agency’s model has proved so successful that few were surprised when Ben Wood was promoted twice last year, first from managing director to chief executive, and then to global president in charge of iProspect’s growth across 43 markets.

The agency is credited by Google UK for its approach to using bid adjustments in Enhanced Campaigns as a way to reach people based on context – such as their location, time and device. Google’s European sales director, Mark Howe, told Campaign that iProspect represented best in class among the larger media agencies.

Now in the capable hands of the chief executive, Chris Whitelaw, the agency shows no sign of slowing its rocket-like tracjectory any time soon.